Gov’t fails to improve Armenian economy

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

When the new prime minister took office in September, the Armenian government described then state of the economy as disastrous.

The social-economic situation in Armenia was certainly depressing, but the main intention of the authorities in this recognition was to fool their citizens and artificially create a positive image of the new government in the future. Thus, the authorities hoped to make the public consider every, and even the most minor economic change as an achievement of the government.

The member of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) opposition faction, economist Vahagn Khachatryan, says that the change of government was nothing more than a political ploy that had nothing in common with the economy.

“The government needed to record a low base to start showing high numbers from 2017,” said Khachatryan.

He noted that entrepreneurs talking to him complain that their sphere of activity observed no positive changes. Khachatryan is sure that Armenia's economy is now in recession as the negative dynamics can be seen during over the past two quarters.

The Armenian experts and economists note that it is necessary to ensure at least 7-8 percent of GDP growth to avert the coming default in the country. However, the realities show that the government did not manage to reach even the promised 2 percent of growth this year – it stands at almost zero point.

Secretary of the ANC Aram Manukyan in his speech in Parliament said that there are deposits in the amount of about $4 billion in Armenian banks. 

“This means that the Armenian rich people do not invest in business because they are afraid. If ten or twenty percent of these money would be aimed to business and trade, our economy would rise," he noted. However, the rich people understand unreasonableness of investing in the Armenian economy which is heading towards default.

The country’s only booming sector of economy is the shadow economy. Small and medium businesses are being eradicated by high taxes or bribery. Industrial enterprises have long ago turned into the victims of corruption, while the survivor ones are in the hands of foreigners.